The Devil & Daniel Jackson
Disclaimer:
All the characters appearing in this fic are copyright Glassner/Wright Company and Double Secret Productions.
No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized
by the copyright holder.
All original characters are the property of garggirl.
Author's Note: Set somewhere between seasons 8 and 9.
Daniel slept uneasily, waking up nearly every hour on the the hour. He turned and stared at the clock for several long second, the red lights clicking over to display that it was now 3am.
He pulled the blankets up to his chin and closed his eyes once more. Maybe this time he would get some rest...
He was standing on the desert plains of Abydos, a massive pyramid rising into the sky far in the distance. Behind him, a dormant Stargate. Looking down, Daniel saw that he was wearing the brown robes akin to the Abydosians. He smiled lazily and gazed out over the sand dunes. "I'm home," he murmured.
"Isn't it, though?"
Daniel started and looked around for the source of the voice. In the distance a figure was approaching at an inhumanly rapid speed. Soon the figure, a young man in a black suit, was standing next to him.
"Yes, this is the home you long for, isn't it, Daniel?"
"This is impossible," Daniel shook his head. "How did I get here? I don't remember going through the Stargate, and it's my understanding that this planet no longer exists."
The man smiled slightly and began to circle him. "That might be, but it can exist again. I can make that happen...I can also give her back to you."
Daniel's brow furrowed as he tried to process the strange man's words. "Her? You mean Sha'uri? That's impossible! She's gone. Dead and buried."
"Come now, Daniel, you of all people should know -- nothing's impossible."
Daniel narrowed his eyes. "How do you know my name?"
"I know everything you know. I am in all things, deep down in the very darkest parts of the soul. I am the thing all good creatures fear...I am all-powerful and all-knowing."
Daniel sighed heavily and hung his head low. "Damn, not another alien with a God complex," he murmured.
The man's smile broadened. "No, not God...try the other direction."
Daniel's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "The fallen one?" he exasperated. "No, that's impossible. God and the devil are inventions of the human mind. A way to explain strange events in history."
"Please," the man interjected. "Call me Devlin."
Daniel began to pace back and forth. "This is a dream. This has to be a dream."
Devlin chuckled. "That's right Daniel...keep telling yourself that. After all, that's what your mother taught you to do. Tell youself it was only a dream...it isn't real. Well guess what, Danny, my boy..." Devlin was suddenly mere inches from his face. "...I'm very real."
Daniel gulped hard. "What do you want?"
"What do you think?" Devlin once again held a pleasant expression. "I come with an offer, my dear doctor. You want this," he indicated the dreamscape with a flourish. "Don't you?"
Daniel looked out over the sand dunes.
"And what about her?" Devlin snapped his fingers and a very familiar form suddenly sprang up from the ground. Sha'uri.
"Daniel?" Sha'uri stretched her arms out to him.
Daniel squeezed his eyes shut. "Stop it! Stop it!" he demanded. "None of this is real."
"But it can be," Devlin reiterated. "I can bring the planet, it's people and your wife back to you. Make it seem like they were never gone."
"You mean, erase the last eight years?" Daniel asked carefully. "That would undo all that good we've done, all the people we helped."
Devlin's mouth was suddenly next to his ear. "All you have to do is say the word, and this life can be yours once again. But remember, it comes with a price."
Daniel turned his head slightly. "Price? What kind of price?"
"Oh, nothing all that consequential. A pithering trifle of a thing...you'll never miss it."
Daniel stared hard at Devlin. "Get to the point."
Devlin turned to look pointedly at the human. "Jack O'Neill."
"What?"
Devlin smiled again. "Just think, all this can be yours again, you can live happily ever after with your wife, and all you have to do is give me O'Neill." Devlin began to circle Daniel once again. "Y'see. I've had my sights on your friend for a long time, and every time he's been within my grasp, he was pulled out of it just as quickly."
Daniel was silently for several long minutes as he stared at the image of Sha'uri.
"Sha'uri for Jack...that's all I ask."
Daniel slowly turned his gaze to Devlin. "No. You can take this fantasy of yours and shove it where the sun don't shine." Daniel slowly began to advance on Devlin. "Nothing in the universe can give this life back to me, least of all you." For the first time since he appeared, Devlin's eyes were filled with fear. "You have no power of me!"
Suddenly, Devlin began to fade into mist, the desert wind carrying him away. Behind him, the Stargate suddenly sparked to life, the event horizon billowing out in a mushroom cloud before forming into a shimmering pool.
Daniel was suddenly enveloped in a bright white, blinding light...
Daniel woke with a start. He was in the comfortable surroundings of his apartment. There was no pyramid, no sand dunes, and worst of all, no Sha'uri. But that was alright. That chapter in his life was closed and he was secure enough in himself that the life he now led was what he needed to be doing. Sha'uri was at rest; the Goa'ould had been overthrown; the Jaffa were free of oppression -- they were doing important work.
With all these things in mind, Daniel settle back onto the sheets, his mind drifting, and he finally fell into the peaceful slumber he so richly desired.
THE END